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26 Jul 2013

Hot Oil bath with Sesame oil and Shikakai Powder – The Best Medicine

Hey girls,

What you pay to a doctor, Pay
it to the (edible) oil merchant – So goes an old saying.

Recently I started getting
heat related problems like having a heat boil, feeling giddy, stomach ache etc
which was again aggravated by the intake of medicines. When I complained to my
mum, she asked me to get regular with my weekly oil treatments.

She even bought certain
ingredients which I will be listing out later in this post and prepared a
powder to use along with the hot oil treatment.

The entire process of applying
the oil and bathing takes about 2 hours and I do it on my weekend.

I have been strictly following this for the
past 3 weeks and I am able to see and feel the results. I feel relaxed, my heat
related problems have come down very well, my skin is glowing and my hair feels
healthy..

Another point worth noticing
is I had dark and dry skin in my elbows, knees and ankles. After these three weeks, I am noticing visible changes. The dry areas now look
nourished and healthy. My friend noticed this and asked how the darkness which
was so obvious initially had reduced.

This process is no secret and
like my mum even your mother would be aware of it. Anyways I decided to
share it in my blog to benefit the ones who are new to this.

I use sesame seed oil. I apply it on skin, hair etc and let it soak in for half an hour. Once that is
over, I rinse it off with the specially prepared Shikakai bath powder. I use the same
bath powder for my hair as well as my skin.

Items Required for making the bath powder:

1.Shikakai (Acacia
concinna) – 1 Kg.

2.Green Gram – 200 grams.

3.Fenugreek – 1 Teaspoon.

4.Reetha (Sapindus
Emarginata) also known as boodhikottai in Tamil Nadu – 200 grams.

Additional Ingredients that
can be added based on preference:

1. Dried hibiscus flower
petals.

2. Curry leaves.

3. Dried Amla.

4. Tulsi Leaves.

How to: You need to spread the
stuffs in a newspaper or a plate and let it dry under hot sun for three to four
days. Shikakai is very tricky as it attracts moisture easily. You can check if
the shikakai is ready for grinding by breaking it. After drying, when you touch
it or bend it, it should feel crisp. It should not feel rubbery. If it feels
rubbery, then let it dry for some more time.

Once the sun starts to set,
store the dried/semi-dried stuffs in an air tight container.

After drying the stuffs, Grind
them together to make a powder. The powder will feel very soft. There are lots
of shops in South India where you can go and get it done.

You must once again store the
powder in an air tight container and make sure you do not touch them with wet
hands/spoons etc.

This powder can be used for
both hair and skin. If you are using it on your skin, just add a pinch of
katuri haldi in it.

This powder, along with the
sesame oil does wonders for your hair, skin and overall health. Heat related
problems will never even turn to your side.

The only disadvantage of doing
this treatment is (especially when you are new to such oil treatments) you will
end up feeling slightly oily as sesame oil is very thick. Do not worry. Make
sure you stay at home on that day and take rest.

My Tip: After this hot oil
bath, treat yourself to a hot and spicy South Indian pepper rasam. You will
feel wonderful.

If you are more prone to cold
then keep this oil for five to ten minutes initially and make sure you don’t take cold
stuffs like tender coconut on that day. Sesame oil is known for its cooling
properties.

My mum makes a fragrance
powder at home which is to be applied on the hair and body after washing the
oil with the bath powder. Unlike the bath powder which we use to scrub off,
this fragrance powder is applied and allowed to sit in the hair and skin for 5
minutes and rinsed off. It gives the most amazing fragrance ever.